Two people were killed and 120 people injured with more than 70 hospitalized when liquid red mud, a bauxite residue, from an alumina facility broke through a container barrier, flooded the area between Ajka and Devecser in western Hungary on Monday.

The injured people have been transported to hospitals in Gyor, Ajka, Veszprem and Budapest, local wire service MTI reported.

Interior Minister Sandor Pinter visited the village of Devecser where seven people were still reported as missing. Pinter said the responsibility of the container's owner, Mal Zrt, would be investigated and police have already held an on-site inspection at the company.

Some 700,000 cubic meters of liquid red mud flooded three villages in Veszprem county on Monday afternoon. Fifty houses in Kolontar and one-third of the homes in Devecser, 400 houses, were hit by the hazardous liquid. Temporary shelters have been set up in the villages to accommodate people who had to be evacuated.